'Safety issues' keep Crete-Monee Middle School from beginning school year

Erin Gallagher

The Crete-Monee Middle School campus showed obvious signs of construction as crews worked to pour driveways. There were mounds of stone, light posts laying on the ground, and stone fixtures covered in pink construction netting.

The Crete-Monee Middle School campus showed obvious signs of construction as crews worked to pour driveways. There were mounds of stone, light posts laying on the ground, and stone fixtures covered in pink construction netting.

Students at Crete-Monee Middle School in University Park did not start the school year on Tuesday as planned, due to "several safety issues" resulting from a renovation project, according to the Crete-Monee School District 201-U administrators and a school board member.

A message from Superintendent Nathaniel Cunningham Jr., posted Monday on the District 201-U website, noted that the "Regional Office of Education authorized conditional occupancy" for the school. However, during a final walkthrough, "the district identified several safety issues."

In his message, Cunningham said, "The contractor has been informed of these (safety) issues and has been given 48 hours to rectify them. It is the district's plan to have Crete-Monee Middle School students attend Thursday, Sept. 8."

The safety issues involved the renovation project, according to Rochelle Clark, assistant superintendent of student affairs.

Administrators did not return calls seeking more information, but the district's website noted that delays were caused by the "discovery of an underground 8,000-gallon tank, a subsequent two-day strike of sheet metal workers and inclement weather."

School board member Michael Turay said the project had been delayed six weeks.

According to Turay, the $15 million renovation project includes additional classrooms, a rotunda and an amphitheater. It was undertaken to accommodate sixth-graders to the middle school, which historically included seventh- and eighth-graders, he said.

"I think they were overaggressive in trying to get the work done and they burned out the contractors," said Turay, who opposed the project in favor of a scaled-down addition. "They deemed to go with the Cadillac addition instead of the Chevrolet addition," which he said contributed to the delay.

The district will inform parents and students Wednesday when opening day has been confirmed.

"Although the district believes that the issues can be completed in 48 hours, we will only have school if the safety issues are resolved," Cunningham's message said.

Other schools within the district were not affected by the middle school's delay and started class as scheduled.